Katie Mitchell on ROH's brutal new operaHer last production contained cannibalism and was staggeringly successful. Could Lessons in Love and Violence top it? We sit in on rehearsals as the revered director grapples with some bedside lamps.

Opera’s perfectionist tries to follow his masterpieceGeorge Benjamin, the painstaking composer of the acclaimed opera “Written on Skin,” prepares for the premiere of his “Lessons in Love and Violence.”

Turning a ghoulish children’s book Into a grand operaNeil Gaiman’s “Coraline” has been transformed into an opera in London, with music by Mark-Anthony Turnage. It goes to some genuinely disturbing places.

From the House of the Dead shines a light into darknessJanáček’s final opera is peopled with aggressive and unpleasant characters, but the beauty of its music speaks powerfully of the need for empathy and understanding, says the conductor of a new production.